Exploring Mount Robson

Spontaneous, crazy, stupid.

The three words that are going to sum up this entire blog post. Here we go...

A few weeks ago Chris and I... (mostly me) decided at 10pm Friday night that we wanted to go hiking, and not just go for an average every day sorta walk... we wanted to explore. We wanted to see something different, something beautiful, something British Columbia is known for. Snowy mountains, crystal blue lakes, glowing greenery- where else would we go other then the infamous Mount Robson. Now, for those of you who arent familiar, Mount Robson is is the most prominent mountain in North America's Rocky Mountainrange; it is also the highest point in the Canadian Rockies. It is around a 40km hike (there and back)... It is NOT something you plan to do the night before; but we were determined. Most people camp there overnight to finish the hike.

Issue numero uno: Chris didnt have hiking boots.

So we rushed to the mall before it closed with the theory: "If we find some boots at a good price we will go hiking tomorrow, if not, it wasent meant to be and we will go next year." We ended up finding a good deal on some boots at Sears. Tip #1: Cheap Hiking Boots arent always the best.

Now this was kinda our motto for the whole trip, " if ________ happens then we will go hiking, if not we will go next year." Again, not the best motto to go on a fairly intermediate hike for beginner hikers.

So went to bed Friday night with the alarm set for 4:30 am so we can be on the road by 5 and hopefully be at Mount Robson by 7am. Packed a few snacks, water, a sweater, extra socks, a hat and a toque and hit the road. As soon as we got in the parking lot it was like the weather man had to play a cruel joke on us. Rain. Lots and lots of rain, and since we only brought sweaters since it was suppose to be a nice day, a little shopping spree at the Mount Robson Gift Shop had to happen. But good news- Rain jackets were on sale for $39.99 ;).

Now im not going to lie... the first half of the hike was absolutely beautiful. Totally worth the rainy walk, slipperly paths and soaking clothes. We arrived at Kinney Lake. Now this is typical BC.

Kinney Lake, Mount Robson

We stopped for a bit to admire the scenery, take some cute/funny photos and then continue our journey. First goal was to see the mountains and crystal blue water. Now... we had the mission to see some Falls.

According to our map, the first set of falls was a 6km hike away, it was only 12pm at this point so we thought what the heck lets do it.

Lets just keep this story kind of short... we walked 13.5km one way to reach the "falls" that were suppose to be amazing. Well- let me tell you... when we arrived at that point, the falls were so miniscule that it hardly counted as seeing "falls". We walked up a very... very steep climb to squint and kind of see some falls way off in the distance.

See that white strip going down the peak of the mountain? "Falls".

Now walking back the 13.5km was not the most fun time. It was starting to get dark, our feet were swollen. Every step hurt so, so bad. But when we FINALLY got back to the jeep there was all of a sudden a rush of accomplishment. High fives were had, kisses were shared and we drove outta there with the biggest grin on our faces. 27km hike in 7 hours.